The prior art is full of devices directed to solving the problem of automatically dispensing mixed drinks or other liquid combinations. The effort to mechanize the bartender has engaged inventors for a long time, as may be seen for example in such U.S. Pat. Nos. 902,203; 3,067,912; 3,119,488; 3,193,143; 3,341,078; 3,409,176; 3,428,218; 3,675,820; 3,827,467; 3,830,405; and 3,949,902.
However, the basic approach in the prior art has always been to assemble the liquids or other flowable materials into the receptacle at a given location which is also the location at which the receptacle containing the mixed drink, beverage or other liquid and flowable material combination is delivered. Thus, in the prior art, means were provided for conducting all of the necessary liquids or other ingredients for a given drink, for example, to a given location and means were provided for positioning a receptacle at such location to receive the mixture of such liquids or other ingredients without movement of the receptacle. Finally, in the prior art, the receptacle containing the mixture of liquids and other ingredients was received by the user at the given location without movement of the filled receptacle other than by the user.
The approach taken in the prior art has tended to limit the number of different flowable ingredients that can be assembled into a given receptacle since all of such ingredients are dispensed into the receptacle at a given location. The approach taken in the prior art has also tended to multiply the space requirements by the number of different mixtures of flowable materials desired, since redundant apparatus is required if more than one dispensing location is provided. Finally, the approach taken in the prior art has tended to require that each assembly of flowable materials in a given receptacle be completed and the receptacle removed by the user before another assembly in a further receptacle can be initiated.
A primary object of this invention is to overcome the above limitations of the prior art.